Letters to the Editor: June 20, 2018

'Without a free press, we lose the democracy'

New Sheriff
in Town

I'm an ardent John Mutz supporter. The loss was tough, but this is an encouraging piece about Mark Essick and his program ("The Road Ahead," June 13). It would be beneficial for the citizens of Sonoma County if Essick reached out to Mutz for advice on applying quality management techniques to the department. This is an approach Mutz developed to change the challenging culture of the LAPD—bringing in top management experts from private industry to provide a true service approach to policing.

Word Choices

I don't see why the second letter referring to Jewish influence on our political system should not have been printed ("Ugly Words," June 13). Jewish Power is the title of a book by J. J. Goldberg, extolling and examining the power of American Jews in U.S. politics, and Californian Joel Stein explains clearly why Jews own (and should, he argues) Hollywood. It's certainly within the Bohemian's purview to deprive readers of a topic they should be aware of, but to do so renders them a disservice.

Do Bohemian readers actually know what they have in this award-winning newspaper? Stett Holbrook's "Ugly Words" is clear, accurate and truthful. It goes beyond the legal requirements for the policy of a newspaper. It's a lesson in democracy. Without a free press, we lose the democracy. The Bohemian is one of the last bastions of the free press.

ICE Cold

The U.S. Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, has violated established international law and cherished American values by requiring immigrants seeking asylum in the United States to abandon their children in order to gain entry. In defense of his usage of such a threatening "deterrent," he is quoted as saying that immigrants will be "prosecuted according to the law" for any violations, and "if they don't want to leave their children, then they can stay out of the country. It's not our fault." I don't agree with the "president" on much of anything, but I do agree with one of his latest tweets that he should never have appointed Sessions as attorney general.